Conservative management of paediatric renal abscess

Renal abscesses in the paediatric patient population are a rare entity. Patients are usually treated with percutaneous surgical drainage of the renal abscess as conservative treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics is not considered as effective. We describe the conservative management of renal abscesses without percutaneous drainage in 6 children.

Six patients with a median age of 31 months, admitted over a 6 year period at two medical centers, were retrospectively studied. All patients were treated conservatively.

In all patients, the abscesses were solitary, unilateral and located in the right kidney. The median abscess diameter was 38 mm. The diagnosis was made by ultrasonography. All 6 children were treated conservatively with a urinary catheter or suprapubic catheter and broad-spectrum antibiotics. None of the renal abscesses were surgically or percutaneously drained.

A series of 6 paediatric renal abscesses, all successfully treated without surgical intervention, is presented. We believe that, in carefully selected cases, renal abscesses can be managed without percutaneous drainage. Furthermore, all children had complete resolution of the abscess.